<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Ink Blots by paperjamBipper</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272880">Ink Blots</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper'>paperjamBipper</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Memory Lane [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gravity Falls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Fluff, Gen, Tattoos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:54:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mabel discovers the tattoo Ford so heavily tries to hide, she decides to do what’s best for him and offer to try and help cover it up for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ford Pines &amp; Mabel Pines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Memory Lane [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ink Blots</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ford rises in bed slowly, stretching his back out before he reaches for his glasses. He stands up, and when he feels pain shooting into his back, he stretches it again. He really should sell that old couch and replace it with a real bed. Exiting his room, he walks to the kitchen to make his routine cup of coffee. He empties out the old filter and replaces it with a new one, and then sits down at the kitchen table.</p><p>Ford loves to wake up early in the morning. It’s so peaceful and quiet. Instead of the noisy daily routine that comes with the Mystery Shack’s long hours, the only noises Ford hears are the sounds of coffee brewing and Stan snoring quietly from his first-floor bedroom. It brings a calmness to Ford he can’t seem to put into words.</p><p>Once the coffee’s done, he pours it into a mug along with a scoop of sugar and slowly makes his way back to his room. He learned the hard way that if he went too fast the floor boards would squeak and that he would wake his brother. Once safely back in his room, he sets his coffee down at his work desk next to his journal and opens up the book.</p><p>There he sits for the next few hours going through his journal to clean up a few drawings or to fix any spelling mistakes he might have made. It was hard to do when his journal was entirely in ink, but it gave him something to do while the rest of his family was still asleep. He never really realized how much time was passing, and it made him laugh to recall the time he had accidentally spent the entire day locked in his room without meaning to. Maybe he and Dipper were even more alike than he realized.</p><p>This, however, was not one of those days. As soon as he felt the sun’s warmth reach through his turtle neck sweater, Ford knew it was time to stop. It was still pretty early, but Ford knew if he continued any further he would get into a sort of zone and not come out of it until sunset.</p><p>Ford stands up. Upon looking down at his attire, he realizes that he was wearing the same clothes from the day before. He walks over to his dresser and pulls out a sweater identical to the one he’s wearing now. He sloppily drops his trench coat to the floor, and walks over to the couch in his room. </p><p>He sighs. Even when he’s alone, he’s not completely comfortable taking his sweater off. Every time he does, he’s just reminded of that reckless mistake he made when he was young. There, sitting on his left shoulder blade was a large tattoo. Pictured was a star holding out two arms with “HEY NOW, I’M AN ALL STAR” written above and below it. Sure he couldn’t see it, but just knowing it was there and that it would never go away bothers him.</p><p>He closes his eyes, and facing away from the door, he removed his sweater.</p><p>“EEEEE!!! Grunkle Ford that is THE cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” Mabel suddenly squeals, and Ford whips around to face her, covering himself with his sweater in embarrassment.</p><p>“What? What’s cute? I have no clue what you’re talking about” Ford says, his face turning red.</p><p>“Your tattoo!” Mabel exclaims, stepping into his room. “I love it SO much; do you think I could see it up close? Please?”</p><p>“Um…” Ford pauses. Everyone who’s ever had the misfortune to catch a glance at his tattoo has made fun of him and teased him for it for weeks on end. He doesn’t want to risk that happening again. But when he looks down at his niece’s pleading eyes, he can’t help but say no. “Okay, sure”</p><p>“Yay!!” Mabel lights up, and Ford drops the sweater at his feet. She walks around him, and takes a long look at the tattoo he dreaded. After a short while, Mabel starts giggling. Ford’s about to open his mouth and say something about how he was right, until she walks around him to face him.</p><p>“Grunkle Ford, this is great! Look, we’re twins!” She says, and shows off the signature pink shooting star sweater she wore so often.</p><p>“No, no…” Ford dismissed her quietly. “It’s silly. I look ridiculous” he says, and Mabel blows a raspberry.</p><p>“What? No, of course you don’t look ridiculous! It’s really pretty”</p><p>“No, of course I look ridiculous. You’re just trying to be nice…” Ford says, almost too embarrassed to look Mabel in the eyes.</p><p>“Well, of course I’m being nice! It doesn’t mean what I’m saying isn’t true though” Mabel puts a reassuring hand on Ford’s wrist.</p><p>Ford sighs. “It’s just that…I got it when I was young, and reckless, and…” his voice drifts off, and Mabel frowns. She hated seeing her grunkle act like this, especially when he reminded her so much of her own brother. The two of them stood in silence for a brief moment, when an idea popped into Mabel’s head.</p><p>“Hey, Grunkle Ford, do you trust me?” she asks, and Ford looks up at her.</p><p>“Of course I do” Ford says without putting a second thought into it. “Why?”</p><p>“Because I know a way to ‘get rid’ of your tattoo, and I wanna know if you wanna try it” Mabel’s use of air quotes around ‘get rid of’ made Ford curious of what she would do.</p><p>“Sure, I’ll try it” Ford says, rolling his eyes playfully, and Mabel smiles. “Great! Wait right here, I’ll be right back” She says, and disappears out of his room before his very eyes and closes the door behind her. He picks up the sweater off the floor and throws it over himself while he waits for his niece’s return.</p><p>Not much time passes before he hears footsteps quickly approaching his door, and much to his surprise, Mabel walks in carrying a large makeup bag. She closes the door and locks it behind her, and then she approaches Ford.</p><p>“Okay Grunkle Ford, you’re gonna have to take your sweater back off. I’m gonna need direct contact with your tattoo for this to work. You’re gonna need to sit somewhere I can stand behind you, okay?” She asks, and Ford complies. He stands up, pulls out his work chair, and moves it to the center of the room.</p><p>“Now do you think you can hand me that makeup bag?” She asks, and Ford picks up the large bag Mabel brought in the room with her.</p><p>“This?”</p><p>“Yeah”</p><p>Ford hands her the bag, and Mabel drops it at her feet before patting at the chair Ford placed in the middle of the room.</p><p>“Doctor Pines, Doctor Pines is ready to see you now” she jokes, which causes Ford to laugh. He sits down and slowly takes his sweater off, dropping it to the side.</p><p>“Ready?” Mabel asks, and Ford nods.</p><p>“I’m ready”</p><p>The first thing Mabel does is take out a large brush and a container of concealer. Using the brush, she covers Ford’s entire tattoo with concealer, and then waits for it to set. Once that’s done, she takes out a container of foundation and begins rubbing the gooey makeup all over the same area. She pokes around at it to make sure it’s set, and then steps back a little bit to see how it looks so far. After a quick nod to herself, she takes out an unopened container of powder, and applies it on top of the foundation. Once that’s done, she reaches into her bag and pulls out a spray bottle.</p><p>“Sorry Grunkle Ford, this part might feel a little weird” She says and then starts spraying at the area with hairspray. After a short while she touches it to make sure it’s dry, and smile when she finds it is.</p><p>“Okay, are you ready to see what it looks like?” Mabel asks, and holds up a mirror at an angle where Ford can see what’s behind him.</p><p>He’s in complete shock. The tattoo looks like it was never there at all. All he sees when he looks in the mirror is his own bare skin, just the way he likes it. His niece accomplished something he’s been wanting for years in a matter of minutes.</p><p>“It’s not permanent” Mabel says, picking Ford’s sweater of the ground and handing it to him.  “But it’ll help”</p><p>Ford puts it on and stands up, immediately turning around to hug Mabel. “It’s perfect. Thank you so much” he says, and she smiles.</p><p>“You’re welcome” she says, and after another short pause she pulls a bunch of different colored permanent markers out of her sweater pocket. “And actually, if you wanted, I could give you a new one. A better one, with some of these” She shows them off to him. “This wouldn’t be permanent either, but maybe it could make you feel better?” She asks, and he smiles.</p><p>“Absolutely. I would love that” Ford says, and he rolls up his sleeve. Mabel grins widely, and kneels down next to his arm. She pops the cap off of the black sharpie first, and places the rest of the colors by her feet.</p><p>“Got any specific requests?” She asks, and Ford smiles.</p><p>“You know what? Surprise me”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>